Interview with David Hall by Naves Students

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David C. Hall

1. Where are you from?

I was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in the United States

2. How long have you lived here for?

About 30 years

3. How come you ended up living here?

I arrived in Barcelona more or less by chance. This was 1974, Franco was dying and a lot of things were happening. I got involved in political activity, and met some interesting people.

4. What do you like most about living here? Why?

The food, the sea, the landscape, some buildings, the street, my friends.

5. What do you like the least about living here? Why?

The noise. The rudeness of a lot of people.

6. What are three of the things you miss most from where you are from?

Hamburgers, apple pie, bookstores.

7. Who are your three most favorite Spanish authors? What is it you like about them?

Juan Marsé, Manuel, Vázquez Montalbán, the poet Jaime Gil de Biedma. Marsé is a very exciting writer in terms of style, very descriptive. He and Vázquez Montalbán portray the Barcelona that still existed when I arrived here in the seventies but which now is gone.

8. Who are your three most favourite Catalan authors? What is it you like about them?

I can't say I've read a lot in Catalan but I would mention the stories of Quim Monzó, the ones he wrote twenty years ago or so, which were original and funny. Also the stories of Pere Calders. An excellent book I read recently in Catalan is Cabaret Pompeya, by Andreu Martín.

9. When and why did you begin writing?

Well I started writing fiction when I was in high school, but I think I didn't seriously start writing, with the intention of publishing, until I was about forty and I decided to write a crime novel. I just decided that if I didn't write and publish something then I had might as well forget about it.

10. As a kid, how good a reader were you?

Oh, I read a lot I think. There were a lot of books in my house when I was a kid. It seemed natural to read.

11. When you were a kid, what kind of thing did you like to read?

All sorts of stuff, more or less what caught my interest. I think I read quite a few books that I didn't really understand at the time. And I really liked looking at the pictures.

12. When you were a kid, what were some of the readings you did not like?

I really couldn't see the point of reading non-fiction, except maybe history.

13. How do you feel about PISA' results showing how little and how poorly kids read nowadays?

This is supposedly a problem everywhere. And it is disturbing, because the habit of reading not only permits people to keep informed, it also makes them think. Television, on the other hand – and I would include television news – does not inform and has practically nothing to do with reality.

14. Why do you think adolescents are such poor readers according to PISA reports?

That's a question for the experts. I think teachers need to get across to their students the idea that reading is fun. And to do that they need to look for texts students will actually enjoy. Until quite recently public libraries in Spain were not really accessible or interesting for most people. Now Barcelona has a good library system and people are using it. I don't think people realize how important that is. Another factor is that this is a class society. A lot of people in power and in positions of responsibility have a thinly concealed contempt for “the people” and really don't believe working-class kids are ever going to care about reading anyway. So why bother?

15. Can you think of ways of improving literacy, reading rates?

I think I sort of answered that above. A lot of it has to do with attitudes. Do parents really believe reading is important for their children? I'm not so sure.

16. Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Well, I used to read a lot. It seemed a natural thing to do.

17. Do you see writing as a career?

Not if a career means what you do to make money, no. Besides, I'm retired, so I don't need to worry about that anymore. Unless the government takes my pension away, of course. I hear they're thinking about it.

18. When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I don't know. It still seems to me a bit pretentious. But I guess when I published my first novel I thought, well, I'm a writer. But then, when you don't write anything – or publish anything – for a while, you start to wonder.

19. Which two works you have written are you most proud of?

Barcelona Skyline, which is the latest novel I've done, and, then I think perhaps El invento del siglo, which is a novel for young readers.

20. How did you come up with the titles?

Barcelona Skyline comes from a series of photographs I guy I knew used to do. He would get up every morning and take a wide-angle photograph of Barcelona at dawn from Tibidabo. The series was called Barcelona Skyline. As to El invento del siglo, well, that's what the book is about, an invention that is going to change the world. Maybe.

21. Why do you like them better?

The Barcelona book just because it's the latest. El invento del siglo because it's pretty funny in parts.

22. What inspired you to write them?

No idea. You have some ideas, you start to see how they can work together. You do it.

23. Would you recommend us any of your works? If so, which one/s? Why?

Well, the ones I mentioned above, I think.

24. What books have most influenced your life most? Why?

I don't know if I understand the question. I imagine my life has been influenced by any number of the books I've read, but I couldn't think of any particular one.

25. Which writers would you consider your mentors? Why?

I don't really believe in the idea of mentors or masters or anything like that. In writing you receive a lot of influences, and they can change over time. In crime writing I looked to Dashiell Hammett, since I like the idea of writing about what people say and what people do, while what they think and feel are indicated indirectly. But I also think about a lot of other writers, Gogol, Borgés, Cortazar... for instance.

26. What books are you reading now? Are they all fiction? What are they about?

At the moment I'm reading The Canterbury Tales and at the same time a lot of short stories by different people. I'm very interested in short stories now. But I have been reading non-fiction too, history and philosophy.

27. Who are your favorite authors and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Aside from the ones mentioned above, there is also Dostoevski, Cormac McCarthy, Isak Dinesen... Borgés, for instance, is interesting because he introduced what you might call philosophical speculation into the short story, Gogol because he is funny and crazy. Dostoevski goes deeply into the way people live their lives. Cormac McCarthy transforms the language.

28. What type of readings does not interest you?

Autobiographies, biographies in general, fantasy, science fiction, most historical novels, self-help books. Books that explain why women are different from men. Anything about celebrities.

29. Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Right now I am working on some short stories, which are, let's say, different.

30. Would you like to add something else?

Don't think so.

31. Would you like to ask us something?

What kind of stuff do you like to read? What's the point of reading, do you think? What's the difference between reading and seeing a movie?

Short questions[i]

32. Barcelona, a reason to stay

The food.

33. Barcelona, a reason to leave

Rudeness, noise, fashion

34. Catalonia, a reason to stay

The landscape

35. Catalonia, a reason to leave

The politicians

36. Spain, a reason to stay

Wine

37. Spain, a reason to leave

The politicians

38. The role of an artist

To make something real

39. The role of a writer

To tell the truth

40. The role of a teacher

To provide the tools you need

41. The role of a journalist

To go beyond the news

42. The role of a researcher

To make a real contribution to what we know

43. The role of a trade unionist

To give people the sense they can make a difference

44. Books make us

human

45. Reading makes us

think, enjoy

46. Reasons to read

pleasure, to grow up

47. Reasons to write

something to say or a story to tell

48. A good writer should

not be afraid to cut, rewrite, start over again

49. A good teacher should

make an effort

50. A good learner should

make an effort too

51. Would you like to suggest a short question? If so, please write it below.

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This Interview was designed by Prof. Teresa Navés and her students from Vocational Ed at Serrat i Bonastre to celebrate English Week (3^rd edition) 2013.

https://sites.google.com/a/xtec.cat/english_week_2013_interviews/david-c-hall